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Morden
Mr. Morden was a Human agent of the Shadows and a former member of the ill-fated Icarus mission. History Early Life Originally from Earth, Morden was born on Monday, May 25 2223 in Summit, New Jersey. While studying for his PhD in archaeology at Michigan State University, Morden took his first job as a teenager at the University bookstore. After he graduated with a speciality in Archaeolinguistics, Morden found employment and worked for Earthforce's New Technologies Division, during which time he visited several worlds and dig sites including Anfran. In June 2248, Morden married his wife, and, almost two years later, in May 2250, she gave birth to their daughter, Sarah Morden. In February of that year, Morden gave a speech before the Interplanetary Archaeological Society on the misconceptions surrounding Anfran love stones, one of his earliest research projects as an Archaeolinguist.Invoking Darkness - (p.174) In May 2256, tragedy struck when Morden's wife and daughter were killed when the ship they were traveling on was caught in the terrorist bombing of the Io Jumpgate that claimed over five hundred other passengers. Images of a distressed and grief-stricken Morden being harassed by insensitive reporters was broadcast on ISN. Morden later moved to Station Prime.The Shadow WithinThe Passing of the Techno-Mages: Casting Shadows The Icarus Mission Morden was still working for Earthforce New Technologies when he was assigned 'on loan' to IPX for Dr. Chang's archaeological team aboard the Icarus in December of 2256.The Shadow Within The Icarus was an Interplanetary Expeditions exploratory ship that set down on Z'ha'dum in 2257, in which the crew came into contact with the newly awakened Shadows.In the Shadow of Z'ha'dumZ'ha'dum During the flight, Morden was befriended by Dr. Anna Sheridan, who, during the ship's New Year's party, gave him an Anfran love stone, an artifact from one of his previous expeditions which she had taken from his quarters the day before and had put on a necklace. Shocked that he failed to notice that it was missing from his quarters, Morden put it around his neck and decided to keep it with him, always.The Shadow Within What Do You Want? Secretly working for the Shadows, Morden returned to civilization in 2258 to Babylon 5 with the purpose of asking each of the ambassadors of the Babylon 5 Advisory Council a single question: "What do you want?" They used that question to see whether or not the ambassadors and their races fit their needs.Signs and Portents Although at first, Ambassador G'Kar showed promise, he had no great ambition beyond revenge; however, he discovered that Londo Mollari was the perfect candidate for their needs and seized an opportunity to put Londo in his debt and on the path his "Associates" needed him to be.Chrysalis With his help, Morden convinced Londo to allow the Shadows to lend their support in the fight against the Narn, and allow them to sweep through to victory without the Centauri losing a single fighter.Revelations Morden traveled to the Techno-Mages in December of 2258. His presence disturbed Elric, who proceeded to investigate his past. Elric then surmised that Morden was an agent of the Shadows. What Happened To The Icarus? When it was discovered who Morden was and where he came from, Captain John Sheridan tried to find out detailed information on why he's the lone survivor of the Icarus. Delenn and Kosh explained to Sheridan the truth about what happened, and that the Icarus was not actually destroyed but that when they arrived on Z'ha'dum they had awakened the Shadows who forced the humans to either serve them or be killed. Agent Of Chaos Evidence was later discovered that Morden had a hand in helping President Morgan Clark to assassinate President Luis Santiago. In 2260, Morden boarded B5 to confront Londo Mollari about his directive to Antono Refa to stop dealing with him. Since the station was watching out for him, he boarded via a deal with one of the newly-hired low-level security on the station. Later, he killed the man to cover his tracks. When he met with Mollari, however, he was denied again. One of the Shadows with him wanted to kill him, but Morden had a plan. He followed Vir Cotto and was able to find out that he was making arrangements for Adira Tyree to visit Mollari. Morden paid another human to kill her with a poison while she was still on board the transport. As Morden predicted, when Mollari found out how she died, he presumed it was Refa who did it. This enraged Mollari and prompted him to continue to work with Morden. During this trip, Morden also learned the Vorlons were openly engaging Shadow forces. Morden then led the three Shadows to Kosh and they killed him.Interludes and Examinations Morden was present on Z'ha'dum when Sheridan destroyed the Shadows' main capital city. Sheridan was nearly killed, but Galen and Lorien, who were also present, rescued him. Morden suffered a great amount of damage to his skin, but quickly recovered.Invoking Darkness A Shadow Of His Former Self In early 2261, Morden was assigned to Centauri Prime to serve as the intermediary for the Shadows and Emperor Cartagia as the small island of Selini was being used as a base of operations for Shadows.The Hour of the Wolf Soon after Cartagia was killed, Londo ordered Morden killed to save Centauri Prime from being destroyed by the Vorlons and as an act of revenge for the murder of Adira. Morden's head was placed on a pike which Vir Cotto gratefully acknowledged with a small wave (his answer to "What do you want?" included seeing Morden's head on a pike).Into the Fire From Beyond The Veil In 2262, Morden returned during the Day of the Dead ceremony to tell Lennier that he would soon betray the Rangers and die shortly thereafter. Talking to Lennier, Morden noted that his head was still rotting away on the same pike outside the Imperial Palace, and that birds had taken his hair for their nests and maggots had consumed his flesh.Day of the Dead Apocrypha Morden appeared in the non-canon novel, Clark's Law, in which he intervened and somehow managed to resurrect Londo after an attempt on his life. Later, Morden also arranged for the Tuchanq serial killer, D'arc to be separated from the rest of her race, ostensibly for her own protection. Behind The Scenes * According to Jeanne Cavelos, J. Michael Straczynski had originally conceived Morden as "a low-level technician on the Icarus, who was jealous of Anna's education and success", though when she handed in her synopsis for "The Shadow Within", Straczynski "...never asked me to change Morden from the way I'd envisioned him." Interview with Jeanne Cavelos on The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 Appearances References Category:People Category:Males Category:Humans Category:Earthforce personnel Category:IPX personnel Category:Shadow servants and agents Category:Earth Alliance citizens Category:Casualties of the Second Shadow War Category:Doctor